Tribute to Oscar Alemán Book

Tribute to Oscar Alemán is the first book on the personal and artistic life of this musician, a masterpiece which is fully illustrated with unknown photos.

This work is the result of years of investigation and passion for jazz. It shows every stage of the life of Oscar Alemán: his hard childhood in the province of Chaco, Buenos Aires and Brazil; his first job as a professional with the Les Loups duet, along with Gastón Bueno lobo; his stay in Europe, playing alone, with different bands and even making the arrangements and directing the Josephine Baker orchestra. His comeback to Argentina, where he became the king of the local night for quite a long time. The twilight of the 60´s, when the new rock & roll let him off the battle. And, finally, his triumphant return and acknowledgement in the 70´s.

This piece of work is complemented with its discography, jam sessions and his filmography, and is illustrated with unpublished photographs property of the Haynes archive (material on Oscar Alemán which was acquired by the authors), the personal archive or Ms. Carmen Vallejos (Oscar’s wife for almost ten years) an his family and other sources.

The answer to this question is provided by Oscar Alemán’s trajectory as a musician.

Born in Chaco, an Argentine province situated in the North of the country, he was far away from the big cities where jazz and new rhythms were blooming.

Being a self-taught person, Oscar Alemán made his way into France and other European countries. This dark-haired man was able to obtain a unique sound and swing from his guitar, impressing the greatest jazz instrumentalists, most of them Americans. No one was ever able to even said sound and swing. He could be compared to Django Reinhardt.

Furthermore, his skills as a showman and as an artist added something special to his brilliant ability with the guitar. Oscar was histrionic. His natural approach to the language of jazz, in spite of his above mentioned origins, is a valid reason to write a book about his life.

Moreover, his comeback to his country, Argentina, led to an unbelievable popularity among jazz performers.

Despite years of ostracism, from the late 50’s up to the late 60’s, Alemán realized that his popularity and affection among his audience remained untouchable. He had fun on stage with his guitar and his audience until his lasts days. He died in Buenos Aires on October in 1980.

Being able to master all rhythms, Oscar Alemán was, basically, and artist who found his way to develop his talent through a guitar.